*Isla*
Mystica’s eyes are hollow as she ties a ribbon around a bundle of herbs–rosemary, lavender, and sage. The whole room smells like spice, and when I look up at the ceiling I see nothing but bundles of drying greenery and flowers. This is Mystica’s haven, a small room near the back of the castle connected to the kitchen garden. Most of the maids use this space to hang herbs and store vegetables. I look at the rows and rows of built-in shelving, cans of last summer’s tomatoes, apples, and peaches perfectly organized and shimmering in hazy gray light filtering through the windows.
I look down at the tea in front of me, which is supposed to be calming, but I can’t find the nerve to even lift it to my lips.
Not after what happened last night, and not now that we're facing a threat from inside the castle walls.
Two warriors stand near the door as I turn to look over my shoulder, their eyes focused on the windows behind where Mystica is sitting.
“Has anyone said whether or not you’re being moved to a safe house?” Mystica whispers. Steam wafts from a pewter bowl as she gently pours boiling water into it, her hands shaking slightly.
I sigh heavily, my throat constricting around the impossible decision I have to make, and as soon as possible.
“I have to stay,” I whisper back, swallowing thickly. “Isaac… he will go. I don’t know where, but Ben is trying to figure out how we can do it safely.” More importantly, he’s trying to find out who we can trust.
I close my eyes against the memory of the night before. I hold Isaac a little tighter as I adjust my weight in my seat, a shuddering running up my spine and tears welling in my eyes.
There’s a knock on the door, and the warriors step aside to let Ben inside, who nods at them both and dismisses them before striding inside. He looks worn out, frazzled, not unlike myself.
I can still smell the blood. I can still see it staining the cream-colored carpet in Isaac’s room. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to stop seeing it.
“Mystica,” Ben says in greeting, sitting down next to me with a sigh. Mystica gives him her usual motherly smile before reaching into a cupboard behind her and pulling out a tea cup.
Ben smiles softly in thanks as she pours him a cup of the same tea I’m drinking.
“What is going on?” I say, practically choking on the words. “I should be out there, Ben. I’m the Luna–”
“You have to stay with Isaac,” he interrupts, but his voice wavers on the words. He takes a sip of tea and sets his cup back down, looking grave. “This was a direct assault on him. Someone wants the prince dead, and they got close last night. Until I can secure his safety elsewhere, you’re the only one who can protect him.”
I've never felt more weak than I feel now. Isaac squirms in my arms, raising one tiny fist before settling.
He’ll never remember what happened in his room or the woman who saved his life by sacrificing her own.
He’ll never understand my overwhelming guilt over choosing sleep instead of keeping him safe beside me in my room. I close my eyes against the thought, guilt and absolute dread settling like a dead weight in my chest. I feel Ben’s arm slide over my shoulder before he pulls me against his shoulder.
“These are for her burial. Her mother was an herbalist,” Mystica says with a touch of whimsy as she brushes her hand over the bundle of herbs she’s been tying together with the ribbon. “And her favorite scent was orange blossom.” She touches the delicate white blooms woven through the bundle, her eyes misting with tears. “Poor dear.”
“I tried,” I choked, tears spilling from my eyes. “I tried to save her–”
Ben held me tighter, looking at Mystica with a pleading expression.
“She was dead when you found her, Luna. There was nothing you could have done–”
“But I came back from the dead twice!” I say as loudly as possible without startling Isaac. “I should have been able to save her. Why was I saved when–when–” Ben ropes his fingers through my braid, his fingertips resting on the back of my neck. A shiver runs down my spine, my shoulders relaxing as I look down at the baby in my arms. “She was so young, Mystica.”
“I know,” Mystica replies, swallowing before shakily pouring me another cup of tea. “But she’s gone, and she gave her life to save the prince.”
Her name had been Ellie, and she’d been barely nineteen. She’d been little more than a kitchen maid before Isaac was born, but being the eldest of ten siblings, she had a knack with young ones.
She’d been the nanny on duty last night, tasked with watching over Isaac as he’d slept. She’d been resting in the rocking chair by the door when…
“She held the door, Isla, until she couldn’t anymore,” Ben whispers, laying a hand over Isaac’s chest.
She had, and when the person hell bent on killing my son was able to get the door open, she’d tried to close it again, and the assailant had stabbed, and stabbed, and stabbed her until she could no longer stand.
But she’d managed to close the door again before she died. She sat against it, using only her meager weight to press against it. It was obvious she’d tried to reach up to lock it in place, but she hadn’t been successful.
She’d died there, her eyes open and fixed on Isaac.
I’d fallen to my knees when I found her. I’d done everything I could to save her.
But she was already gone by then. She hadn’t even screamed or used the mind-link to alert anyone of the threat; she likely hadn’t had time. If she’d hesitated a single second, Isaac would no longer be here.
“This,” Mystica whispers, her hands trembling as she hands a bundle of herbs wrapped in white linen to Ben, “is for Poppy. The herbs need to steep for twenty minutes before she drinks it.”
“Okay,” Ben says softly, accepting the bundle from her. I watch Mystica’s hands as she retreats, going back to her work. Her hands tremble with each moment she makes, and she’s more pale than normal.
She’s very old, that’s clear, and maybe her behavior is merely the effects of a sleepless, absolutely horrible night. But still, worry blossoms in my chest as I lean forward and cover one of her hands with my own. “Are you feeling okay, Mystica?”
“Don’t worry about me, Luna,” she replies with a soft smile, patting my hand. “You have Poppy to worry about.”
Ben sighs as he leans back in his chair and blows out his breath. I do the same, and feel another wave of dread wash over me.
Poppy had been found in the library shortly after I found Ellie. Poppy had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and fought for her life after her late night reading session had been interrupted by someone rushing her from the shadows and demanding to know where the prince was.
She hadn’t told them, and instead scraped and clawed the assailant, running her hands over his hooded face until her fingers were bloody.
She’d survived, barely, and was now resting in her room.
I’d gone to her shortly after she’d been discovered, taking her face between my hands and breathing life back into her with my tears. The idea that she could have died in my arms had I not had the blessing of my powers was jarring.
The notion that someone had breached the castle walls and was dead set on killing anyone in their path was a gnawing, clawing threat that squeezed my heart with every passing minute.
Warriors are still patrolling both inside and outside the castle and had been since last night, but whoever it had been had simply disappeared into the night.
“Vember is on his way back,” Ben tells me as we walk through the castle toward Poppy’s room. “There’s been no word of Maddox and the others, but it was confirmed they crossed the river a few days ago.”
“He’ll be home soon,” I say, more to myself than to Ben. He has to be home soon.
But the thought of another night in this castle with such a severe threat lurking in the shadows….
* * *
*Maddox*
“Why are you doing this?” I ask, the diamond still warm in my hand when I turn around to face Seth. I don’t know where he got the sword. I barely give it a thought as I flick my eyes from the length of pure steel to his eyes, which are dark and emotionless as he gazes at me.
He doesn’t answer, and his stare gravitates towards my hand where the diamond is clenched in my fist.
“Because of the diamond?”
Again, no answer.
Seth adjusts his grip on the hilt of the sword, his knuckles white with sudden strain, as if his mind and body are conflicted on the course of action he’s taking.
“You’ll kill your Alpha for this? Your best friend?”
“I have to,” he says without hesitation.
“Why?” I repeat, but a chill licks up my spine as he takes a step forward, the metal of his sword shining in the blue-hued glow of the diamond still radiating through the temple. Behind me, the Goddess stands stoic and unseeing, her presence doing nothing to thwart that threat in front of me.
The betrayal of a Beta is practically unheard of. It’s against everything our kind stands for.
“I no longer follow your leadership,” he says as if in a trance.
“Obviously,” I reply hoarsely, my mind reeling as I watch his every move toward me. He is moving slowly, each step carefully and meticulously thought out, as if somewhere deep down he’s questioning himself.
I could talk him out of it. I could continue to ask him why.
“Isla was right,” I say, deciding to egg him on instead, fury rushing through my veins. “She had her suspicions about you. You did try to talk Trinity out of telling me where she went, didn’t you? Trinity was telling the truth–”
“The diamond should have remained in Maatua–”
“Who are you working for?” I demand. “Where did you get the sword?”
“There are others who want to see a new king upon the throne and an end to your line. Isla should have been killed a long time ago. The second it became clear she was pregnant–”
“She is your Luna–”
“She is a breeder, the mother of a false prince. The Alpha King who should be on the throne–”
“Who?” I rasp, anger blurring my vision as I hold my ground. Seth is still advancing, his knuckles gripping the hilt of the sword so tightly I imagine his fingers are damn near breaking under the strain.
“The prince is dead, Maddox. Isla is dead. The castle is no longer your home. Your territory is no longer your land. Your kingdom is no longer–”
I turn, throwing the diamond with all of my strength at the statue of the Goddess. A burst of light showers over the room as the statue seems to come alive, the floor around it erupting in silver, heatless flame. Seth shrieks, and as I turn around I see his sword is raised and poised to strike.
I ignore the way the temple is beginning to tremble as I duck, the sword slicing the air above my head before I roll away.
The sword smashes into the marble floor, sending a thick vibration across the tile.
“Seth!” I cry out. I look at him with pleading eyes. I don’t want to kill this man. I don’t want to kill my Beta, my friend.
But he’s giving me no choice. He raises the sword again, and I’m forced to strike.